SHEPHERD’S  STINK

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 16^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Shepherd’s Stink.”

As soon as I heard the first word from today’s first reading, “Shepherd”,  I immediately thought about Pope Francis’ comment to priests - bishops - cardinals, 1,600 of them - at the Holy Thursday service in Rome in  2013.

He looked up from his prepared script and ad-libbed the following comment, “Be shepherds and live with the smell of the sheep.”

We usually don’t remember sermons - or stuff that popes say - but we priests heard that call from our pope. I’ve heard different priests joke about it.

VISITING THE SHEEP

I remember - I celebrate - I have always been grateful  - for the first sentence my first pastor said to me the day I arrived at my first assignment:  Most Holy Redeemer - 173 East 3^rd Street, New York City - February 1^st, 1967.  “Andrew,” he said, pointing to the floor of the rectory, “this is not the parish.” And then pointing out the window he said, “It’s out there.”

I had joined the Redemptorists to go to Brazil - but got the Lower East Side of Manhattan instead. Bummer. But I soon discovered the reality of life in the sweat and the stink of life in the inner city.

It was right at the moment of the Hippie Revolution - Flower Children Time - in both the East Village - New York City and Haight Ashbury, San Francisco.

I found myself in many a tenement apartment with many mattresses on the floors - lots of flies on half eaten food on all the tables and floors - and in my hand a piece of paper from a phone call from a parent in the Kansas or Nebraska or Ohio - looking for their runaway kid. The places stunk.

On East 4th Street - The Rat - was published. It was an underground newspaper - featuring all things hippie, drugs, radical and revolutionary. I remembered it had instructions and maps on how to disrupt and protest at the Democratic Convention in Chicago.  I remember seeing posters and meeting Louis Abolafia - who was running for president on "The I Got Nothing To Hide Party."  His posters had him standing there naked holding a derby in a key place. I remember the nuns in our school asking me to go into The Rat and asking them to take that poster down from their front window - because of the kids going up the street.

Who said, "May you live in exciting times."

I found myself down in the high rise apartments near Avenue D and the East River - visiting parishioners. If they lived on the upper floors I had to go up in urine smelling elevators.

I’m sure the places were nothing like the 20 or so barrios with their villas of misery that Bergoglio - now Pope Francis - visited when he was Cardinal of Buenos Aires in Argentina.  Yet maybe - some places were close to that.

It was an eye opener - as well as a wonderful exciting time in my life.

HORSES

When I was in the Major Seminary - I had a volunteer job for 6 years - of taking care of our horses for one week every month. Right next to the 4 horse stalls was a barn for about 20 cows. It was a chance for me - a city boy to learn the difference between the smells of horses versus cows.  Their poop was very different as well.

They weren’t sheep, but I understood what the pope is asking of the priests of our church.

Get out of the rectory - or as Pope Francis puts it - get out of the sacristy.

GUILT

When I read what Bergoglio - now Pope Francis the First - said about getting with the poor - I feel guilty. Rarely have I gotten into any houses on Clay Street - or any hidden poor places of Annapolis. I read that Pope Francis likes to slip out of the Vatican in the evening and visit the poor of Rome.

I know that there are times I hide out - I’m tired or lazy - but I hear the pope’s call to get on my horse and get out there and find the lost sheep  - and get stinky in the process.

I know that there are folks who think their life stinks and they need to sit and thrash that out with a priest or anyone. I do that - but I still feel guilt when it comes to time with the poor.

I even feel guilty in living in this beautiful place on the water- wondering how we too might downsize our reality like the Pope did when it comes to his housing in the Vatican.

Last night they had a goodly bunch of poor folks in the rectory corridor asking for help with their lives and the Saint Vincent de Paul folks are there to listen to them and to help them. I was waiting there for a couple at 7 PM who were coming in for marriage preparation stuff - and this little girl was going back and forth - with a good load in her pampers - and I realized her mother has a much tougher time that me - and here I am with a sleek young couple and here are the St. Vincent de Paul folks being with people whose lives are stinky in all sorts of ways. Bummer.

Francis is calling our church to get closer to each other and to the people.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, "Shepherd’s Stink".

The first word in the first reading from Micah is Shepherd - God’s call to shepherd his people Israel. [Cf. Micah 7:14-15, 18-20]

And today’s gospel from Matthew tells us that we are all mother and father and brother and sister to each other. Amen. [Cf. Matthew12: 46-50]